Why Religious Organizations Shouldn't Lose Tax-Exempt Status Based on Public Policy, Post-Obergefell

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Wagenmaker
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Religious Organizations ◽  
Tax Exempt

Religious Regulation in the United States

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara A. McGraw ◽  
James T. Richardson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
The United States ◽  
Religious Organizations ◽  
Late 20Th Century ◽  
Free Exercise ◽  
Faith Based ◽  
Tax Exempt ◽  
The Right

Although the United States Constitution presumably was designed to avoid “regulation” of religion, there is an interplay between religious individuals and private organizations, on the one hand, and the state, on the other hand, which has a regulatory effect on religion in some areas of public life. The First Amendment’s “Religious Clauses” prohibit an establishment of religion and preserve the right to free exercise of religion. An important area of contention and development in legislation and Supreme Court jurisprudence involves free exercise accommodations or exemptions to laws and rules that generally apply to everyone. These are particularly at issue in the workplace, in correctional institutions, and in the military. The latter two give rise to establishment issues, which have been resolved in favor of free exercise, as government support of religion has been held to be necessary to preserve the free exercise rights of inmates and service personnel. The enactment of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) have led to a much greater deference to religious rights, resulting in accommodations that would not have been required under preexisting legislation and judicial interpretation. Another such area involves religious organizations themselves, in particular issues regarding tax-exempt status, land use, and faith-based initiatives. A provision in the tax code known as the Johnson Amendment, which restrains religious (and other tax-exempt organizations) from certain political activities, has been challenged recently as a limitation on free speech, however without success so far. Issues involving local government limitations on religious organizations’ land use through zoning restrictions are now being addressed more favorably for religious organizations through the land-use provisions of RLUIPA, although not without controversy. Faith-based initiatives have promoted religious organizations, or faith-based organizations (FBOs), as important government partners, which are eligible to receive public funds for the delivery of social services. Since the late 20th century, there has been a gradual, but significant shift toward greater respect for individuals’ and groups’ religious rights, especially reflected in recent legislation and Supreme Court decisions. Such trends suggest that, although religion has come into conflict with legal-policy developments in other areas, such as those involving gay marriage and contraception coverage, the right to practice one’s religion and participate in public endeavors alongside nonreligious individuals and groups, is likely to continue to expand for the foreseeable future.

Databases for Research on Nonprofit Health Care Organizations

2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (10) ◽  
pp. 1550-1591 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRADFORD H. GRAY ◽  
JAN P. CLEMENT
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Health Care Organizations ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Commercial Markets ◽  
Tax Exempt

As tax-exempt entities that compete in commercial markets with for-profit organizations, nonprofit health care organizations present stimulating intellectual challenges to the theorist and the empiricist alike. Because of third-party payment and policy intensiveness of health care, much information is available to researchers. Most research has focused on comparisons with for-profits and on public policy issues. This article describes the major streams of research on health care delivery organizations and the main sources and types of data that are available to researchers. We suggest criteria for evaluating data sources and identify some limitations and barriers that now exist. We conclude by identifying and assessing the data problems that could confront researchers interested in ownership issues in health care and by offering suggestions on how the more serious ones might be addressed to facilitate improved research.

Public Health and Politics: Using the Tax Code to Expand Advocacy

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (S1) ◽  
pp. 24-27
Author(s):  
Eric Gorovitz
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Tax Exempt ◽  
Policy Engagement

Protecting the public's health has always been an inherently political endeavor. The field of public health, however, is conspicuously and persistently absent from sustained, sophisticated engagement in political processes, particularly elections, that determine policy outcomes. This results, in large part, from widespread misunderstanding of rules governing how, and how much, public advocates working in tax-exempt organizations can participate in public policy development.This article briefly summarizes the rules governing public policy engagement by exempt organizations. It then describes different types of exempt organizations, and how they can work together to expand engagement. Next, it identifies several key mechanisms of policy development that public health advocates could influence. Finally, it suggests some methods of applying the tax rules to increase participation in these arenas.

scholarly journals Public policy and public religion in the paradigm of religious freedom

2019 ◽  
pp. 41-54
Author(s):  
Liudmyla O. Fylypovych ◽  
Vita Tytarenko
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Religious Organizations ◽  
Self Organization ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
Public Religion ◽  
The Church

The article analyzes the connection between public policy and public religion, examines the problems and prospects of their interaction, links the expansion of religious freedom with the level and degree of this relationship. The authors clarify the concepts of "public policy" and "public religion", which are the basic postulates of the article, that rest on the definitions given by modern domestic and foreign science. Investigating the presence of religion in the public sphere, the authors draw on the methodology proposed by American sociologist of religion J. Casanova. He identified three forms of collective self-organization of religion: 1) institutional lobbying by religious groups; 2) the mobilization of religious groups into social movements; 3) self-organization and mobilization of religious groups into political parties. The authors use convincing examples of the presence or the absence of publicity in the religious sphere, which has a positive or negative impact on the religious freedom in the country. Based on the analysis of a specific socio-political situation, the authors argue that in Ukraine, especially after the Revolution of Dignity, there is a real possibility of public influence of people who unite in communities, incl. and religious ones. The right of public influence, then and now, is used by almost all religious organizations to express their attitude to politics and politicians, to the activities of state and public institutions. Going out into the public arena, churches, as a rule, describe themselves in a complimentary way, contributing to the growth of the authority of religious figures, the activation and self-organization of believers, the emergence of new forms of inter-denominational solidarity, and even ecumenical cooperation. But publicity does not only cover the positive aspects of religious organizations. Scandals, crimes, conflicts in the religious environment, becoming a public domain, exacerbate contradictions within the church structures themselves, between different denominational areas, between the church and society. The consolidating function of religion is dominant. Religious institutions as a component of civil society, on the one hand, and public policy, on the other, being attributes of a democratic state, capable of achieving sustainable development, overcoming contradictions and conflicts between different socio-political, socio-cultural and religious groups. The authors illustrate the importance of public activity of advisory and interfaith associations at higher levels of government. There are currently 8 institutions in Ukraine, which try to overcome misunderstandings and tensions in the religious and political sphere. Within their limits, public discussions between religious organizations and the state relate to various relevant areas (introduction of military chaplaincy, organization of alternative service and pastoral care, simplification of registration of religious organizations, reforms in the field of religious education, changes to the tax code, etc.). The dynamics of self-organization of religious groups into political parties is interesting. In Ukraine, unlike other countries, religious parties did not spread, did not become popular. Politicians are actually indifferent to a religious resource. This is evident from the article in the analysis of the election programs of the candidates of the last presidential campaign. All these trends are confirmed by opinion polls conducted annually by the Analytic centre of O. Razumkov. The authors illustrate their theoretical conclusions with these materials, which prove that the lack of transparent public policy may carry the risks of aggravation of the socio-political situation, which is why tolerance of inter-denominational and state-church relations is so important. The special role here belongs to religious scholars as subjects of public policy, through whom the interaction of society and the state with the religious sphere becomes more effective.

A Case Study in Policy Analysis : The Controversy over Tax Exemptions for Private Schools

1983 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 17-18
Author(s):  
Kenneth P. Ruscio
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Private Schools ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Reagan Administration ◽  
American Government ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Tax Exemptions ◽  
Tax Exempt

Debates persist about the use of case studies as a research methodology, but regardless of how that issue is resolved, the judicious use of case studies as a teaching instrument can be very effective. The controversy over tax exemptions for private schools which discriminate on the basis of race serves as one example. Questions about theory, political institutions, and substantive policy issues abound, and the timeliness and sensitivity of the issue make for a stimulating study of American government and public policy.On January 8, 1982, the Reagan Administration announced that private schools which discriminate on the basis of race would no longer be denied tax-exempt status. The Administration defended this policy change as an effort to prevent bureaucrats from making policy in the absence of specific guidance from Congress.

Economics And Forensics Of Fraud And Abuse By Tax-Exempt Religious Organizations Versus The First Amendment

2011 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Morefield ◽  
Vinita Ramaswamy
Keyword(s):  
First Amendment ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
State Level ◽  
Religious Organizations ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Relative Lack ◽  
Tax Exemptions ◽  
Additional Protection ◽  
Tax Exempt ◽  
Tax Returns

<span>This study focuses on the conflict between First Amendment rights of churches and religious organizations and the need by public authorities to investigate and regulate abuses of tax exemptions. The relative lack of accountability of religious organizations opens the door to a number of abusive schemes and scams. Table 1 shows that the IRS has attempted in recent years to improve its ability to enforce regulations pertaining to tax-exempt organizations. Table 2 shows that the number of Tax Exempt tax returns examined by the IRS has increased by 106% from 2005 to 2009, the number of examinations in 2009 still amounted to only 1.24% of returns filed. Table 3 shows that, at the state level, the number of prosecutions and legal actions taken in 2007 by states was a total of 513, just slightly more than 10 per state. Given the obstacles faced by Federal and state enforcement authorities, self-regulation and self-policing by charitable and tax-exempt organizations are likely to be the only way the faithful will receive additional protection against those who would use religion as a tool to mislead them and misappropriate their gifts.</span>

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